The Green God
by tslove
Summary: A young Duncan, freshly arrived in Eternos, is among a group of Randors soldiers who has a first contact encounter with the Moss Man of the Evergreen Forest, known as the Green God.
1. Chapter 1

The Green God

Upon my arrival in Eternos, I had presented myself to the officer manning Randors Royal Guardhouse and requested to serve. The city had near overwhelmed me upon arrival, I had thought that Tauren was a grand metropolis, but now I saw in truth that Tauren was just a ancient corrupt shell of a city compared to the modern majesty of Eternos. The differences could not be more stark, where Tauren lay on the edge of the Sands Of Time, the great Eternian desert, and under the rocky protection of granite walls, Eternos was anchored in a majestic green valley surrounded by snow capped mountain peaks, with greenery and pleasantness all around it. Where Tauren had been built by necessity thousands of years earlier from men who were wishing to escape death from the great desert, Eternos was every inch planned and landscaped just a few hundred years prior by men wishing to innovate for the future. Tauren was decay and the slow corruption of the years, Eternos was beauty and wellsprings of hope and progress. Tauren was a city of what was now called "the Dark Hemisphere", that side of Eternia where Randors Righteousness had not yet penetrated, where warlords and gangsters such as Kronis Trapjaw forced men to either flee, die or serve, Eternos was the flagship city of the "Light Hemisphere" where "Randors Righteousness, the kings creed that stated that all Eternians were born with the right to "life, fraternity, and liberty" was the guiding principle by which the laws were formed and enacted, and by which men were judged. The Light Hemisphere had even declared that accused criminals had rights to a trial by their peers, where they could argue their innocence. Such radical notions were controversial of course, and troubling to many of the landed gentry who had no wish for the order of things to change.

I was accepted into the service of the King, and given enough of a monthly stipend to acquire a cottage for myself off the market square in Eternos. I served faithfully, and the more I learned of Randor the more I began to like him personally, as a good King and a good man. Randor had been borne a prince, but had served as a soldier, just like I, and because he had led the army that had stopped the Duke Keldors attempt to overthrow the Elders the Eternian Elders, the Elders had personally relinquished their post and had announced Randor as King over all Eternia, not just Eternos and its provinces, as his father had been. It was a role that had not been fulfilled since the ancient days of Greyskull, before The Great Wars. Not everyone would accept a planetary monarch again of course, and there were many who had even thought the Elders were mythical, fairytales woven by power mad old priests, and as such they would not recognize Randors authority. When upon taking the crown Randor had announced his Creed, and that it was to be the driving force for all law on Eternia, that had made him even less popular among certain nobles who were used to abusing their privilege.

Randor was pragmatic, and recognized the near impossibility of one monarch to rule an entire world, and had therefore devised to allow local lords to continue to rule their provinces as long as they followed his Creed and did not mistreat their people, and bent the knee to him acknowledging Randor as the king and payed tribute to Eternos. Many were happy to so, in exchange for open trade routes with the capitol and protection from the Imperial military. Others, however, most of which were across the Continental divide or across the seas, refused and did not want to change their old ways, especially those in lands across the seas that were slavers. Thus, the Dark Hemisphere was born, and dissidents such as Lord Tridor Essenaux and Lady Evellyne the Cunning who had joined the gar Duke Keldors open rebellion to usurp Randor became something of folk heroes among the those who wished to keep the status quo. It was to be a long war, and even though it was Randors creed that drew me to his cause, the more stories I heard and especially after meeting him, I was convinced I had chosen the right side.

The king became aware of me after an incident with my squad and some wood elves in the Evergreen Forest when we were on patrol. We were searching for briganders that were said to be hiding in the forest, who had already been responsible for the robbery and murders of three stage coach drivers along Randors Promise, the great intercontinental road that was being constructed at the time, of which part of went through the forest. The road was to be a great boon for travel and the shipping of goods in Eternia, particularly for those who did not have the means to travel by airship, and most of Eternia was very excited about the road, and the wealth of new jobs it's construction would bring. But, with such good fortune is always opportunity for villains to do harm against honest folk, and the briganders had gathered on the road to rob and murder. My squad, of which I was second in command, had been sent out to find and capture them, bring them in alive, if possible, in accordance with Randors Creed, and we were armed enough to do so with plasma blasters, crossbows, and swords of strong steel. We wore green and brown cloaks so as to try and blend in with the forest, but under our cloaks was sturdy boiled leather, having been decided that chain mail would cause too much noise and give us away.

I must stress now that although energy weapons such as plasma blasters are more common today, in those days they were both expensive of manufacture, slow to charge and fire, and more often than not would not fire at all, therefore spring loaded flechette weapons, crossbows and catapults, and hand to hand combat were still the normal form of warfare for those with little or no command of thaumaturgy and magic. For those who were proficient in the mysteries of magic well... let's just say that the common soldier armed with a slow firing short range plasma blaster stood no chance against a sorcerer. As you will see soon.

After some time we found footprints of several human men wearing large boots. No doubt the criminals, and followed them ever deeper into the forest. The footprints began to wind up a hill and we followed, but along the way I began to feel uneasy, I was sure that we were being watched. I looked everywhere and found nothing, I could not explain it, it felt as if the very plants themselves had eyes that were following us. I told my squad leader I felt like perhaps we were being watched and he nodded, he had felt the same thing. "Be aware at all times" he had said, and I knew that was all that we could do.

Soon, we came upon strange little altars of a sort in the woods. Following the footprints ever higher, we passed piles of small rocks that had been made into small mound structures with ashes on top, as if they had been used fairly recently to burn some type of incense. As we climbed higher, bundles of colorful flowers and grasses that did not grow this high on the hill were seen tied to trees and strangest of all on the side of the hill we saw white rocks that had been arranged to represent the face of some creature that was clearly not human. One of the soldiers then became afraid and asked to speak with the squad leader. We all over heard him muttering about "The Green God" and "The Man Of Moss" and that we had to turn back before it was too late for us. The squad leader, a young lieutenant captain, was firm in his resolve however and said that we would not return to Eternos without the criminals in shackles. The soldier became frantic and told us all that not a single one of us would ever see Eternos again unless we ran, then! Our danger was extreme , he promised, for we knew naught about the Green God and that would be our downfall. The squad leader threatened to have the soldier arrested, as he was being borderline treasonous, but the scared soldier would not relent. He had been a child of the country, he told us, who had grown up in a little farm on the very edges of the Evergreen forest. His parents always had told him about the Green God, a tall creature made of moss and foliage who walked the forest on two legs like a man, and who was the God and master of all green things on Eternia and was able to commune with them. This terrifying creature could also transform into any kind of plant, he told us, therefore it could be anywhere, and what's more he could command the very trees and vines of the forest to turn against us, to imprison or strangle us, or worse, turn us into the forest itself! The Moss Man was unimaginably old, he had said, his grandfather told him that his own _great grandfather_ had told him about an encounter he had had with the Moss Man, where he barely escaped with his life. Furthermore the wood elves were so terrified of this creature that they worshipped it, hence the altars and burned incense we had passed, and the name of Green God. His parents had been insistent, "Do not wander into the forest," they had said, "or the Green God will capture you and turn you into a tree, or a fern, because he prefers plants to Eternian humans!" It had worked, because until this very day the soldier had avoided the forest he wailed, and now our squad leader was dragging us all to our deaths!

The Squad leader had had enough. The young soldier was arrested and our leader lamented that we were soldiers of King Randor the Good, and not country bumpkins who would piss our pants from the fairy tales of other bumpkins! We had a job to do, to catch the real life villains and put an end to their murders, villains who unlike this Moss Man actually existed! I agreed with him and regretted that the boy soldier had spoken out and ruined his military career due to superstitions, but it had to be dealt with. The boy was shackled and shamed, thus he remained silent but still was visibly scared.

The soldiers warning had their intended effect, for each time the wind blew or leaves rustled, the men looked around nervously. The lieutenant saw this, but there was nothing he could do, except to grow angrier and urge the men on in their intended job. Finally, they rounded a switchback and crested the hilltop, where a terrible sight awaited them that was seemingly proof the shackled soldiers warnings.

A company of wood elves, about twenty in all was standing guard over the remains of what was presumable the briganders we had been searching for. The elves were dressed only in leaves and deerskins, as was their custom, and blue paint smeared their faces and bodies. They were armed with wooden clubs and bows, and we would have felt no real threat from them armored as we were with our more advanced weaponry were it not for the fact that the briganders, of which it looked to be about ten, were similarly armored and something had... _pulled them apart._ The briganders consisted of seven humans and three orcs, all of which were significantly taller than the small, dark wood elves, of which the tallest stood the height of a human child. The wood elves stared at us with their yellow slitted cat like eyes and their pointed leaf shaped ears twitched in the wind, picking up sounds of a range that we could not hear. Then we saw that they had a sorcerer among them, a shriveled old elf naked except for a skirt of leaves, and various bags of powdered and medicines hanging from its neck. It's entire body was tattooed in blue and green geometric patterns that were of no doubt tremendous religious significance to the wood elves, but were foreign to us. The lieutenant indicated to us that we should not stare directly at their sorcerer/shaman, as the elves wood take this as a sign of disrespect. He tried speaking the common tongue to them.

"Who did this?" He asked, indicating the dead criminals, most of which that still had green vines wrapped around their bloodied severed limbs.

The elves stared at us, and I ventured a glance at their shaman, who glared at us as if we were dungbugs. One of the elves stepped forward, pointed to its mouth, and jabbered frenetically in its own language. Our lieutenant understood, "Does anyone here speak wood elf?" he asked.

That was the first indicator for me that perhaps we should have had a better leader, we were going into a region known to be inhabited by wood elves and he had not thought to bring along a translator? It was after all highly unlikely that the wood elves would have spoken the common language, wild as they were...

"I do, sir," a soldier stepped forward, "I know enough to.."

"Yes, good good," Our leader said, "Translate for me, please. Ask them who killed these men, and what they are doing here?"

The soldier did so. The wood elves conferred with one another, and finally one stepped forward and spoke.

"He says that they were told to patrol this area, to find the dead and dispose of the remains before you got here."

We all looked from man to man. It was beginning to look like we had walked into a trap.

"Ask him who told them to do that, and what killed these men?" Our leader said.

The translator did so and waited for the response. He visibly paled at the answer, and then turned to our lieutenant, "They say that Kreann'Ot N'Norosh did sir..."

"Who?"

The translator inhaled sharply, "The Green God"...

Continued in Chapter 2, available now


	2. The Green God Part 2

The Green God Part 2

While the wood elves were telling us that their "Green God" had ordered them to slay the briganders hiding in the Evergreen Forest, unbeknown to all but King Randor, Queen Marlena, and his Royal Wizard were entertaining a very special visitor, a Vulnarian Warrior. The King was still shaken from a vision he had had weeks before when The Mighty Teela-Na herself had appeared to him in a vision and shown him scenes of a future in which dark beings worse even than he had fought in Keldors Rebellion descended upon Eternos from Infinitia and forced the free Eternians into slavery and darkness. At their head was a creature that was death incarnate, a terrible creature wrapped in stark black and purple shrouds and spiked armor, but who seemed to wear a yellowed skull for a face. The creature was clearly a demonking, however, for the fangs that protruded from it's exposed jaw, it's six fingered hands ending in terrible claws, and the way it levitated upon a field of conquest, the defeated Eternians prostrate in the dirt before it, proved it to be demon, and the demon seemed to feed on the fear of others, even in the vision Randor had felt the icy cold dread of doom from the creature, a doom that would sweep all of Eternia. He had awaken in cold sweats and knew that he must do whatever it would take to prevent that doom.

He had sought much guidance from his wizards and astrologers who had denounced the vision and the Goddess as the "works of a pagan temptress," and reminded Randor that he had sworn allegiance to the Celestial Church of The Master Of the Universe, or He Who Created. The Mighty Teela, they had argued, was simply the savage Goddess of war of the Vulnarians, the old people of Eternia who were dying out. Randor had become angry and reminded them that he himself was of the blood of the old people of Eternia, being from the line of Greyskull, and that made him respectful and open to the Mighty Teela, whether they liked it or not. Furthermore, as they well knew, he said he had joined the Celestial Church for political reasons, as it was the primary religion of the Eternian nobles whose support he needed in order to institute and enforce his Creed, and make sure Eternia had peace and prosperity.

So, when the big dark Vulnarian warrior had marched arrogantly into Randors court, nearly naked except for the traditional Vulnarion devil badger furs and boiled leathers, hair locked and knotted, decorated with the teeth of beasts the Vulnarion had killed, Randor had been only mildly surprised. Confidently and smugly the big man strode to the foot of the throne, leaving a vine from the Vine Jungles at it, a traditional ceremonial peace offering. Randor knew that the Vulnarians enjoyed special privilege on Eternia, due to their rank as the chosen people of the great Goddess Teela-Na, and the original old people of Eternia carrying the blood of ancient Greyskull, they were free to go whether they would in any area of the Light Hemisphere without challenge, but it was still unusual to see a Vulnarian so far from the Vine Jungles. So big and fell the man was that Randors own soldiers looked like children compared to him, and perhaps because of that the Vulnarion ignored them completely, his eyes focused on the young king."Randor King at Eternos, I bid you come with me!" the big man rumbled.

Randors Guard had had enough, they stepped protectively in front of their King with double bladed plasma blaster spears pointed towards the Vulnarion. "Brute! You do not give orders to His Majesty!" The Guard Captain growled.

"Stand down Captain! You men stand down also!" Randor ordered. "Our Vulnarian guest is used to doing things differently in the Vine Jungles , but he means no offense I am sure."

The men stood down and Randor rose from his throne. "Point the way, my friend," he said to the Vulnarian, "Ever the Vulnarions have been the friends and champions of Eternia and I doubt it is any different now."

The Vulnarian simply nodded his assent and waited for the King to follow him. He did, and when his Guard Captain immediately fell in step behind him the Vulnarian frowned. "Randor King must come alone," he said.

The Guard Captain had started to protest but Randor again signaled him to hold his peace. "Clearly this warrior is here on an important mission and has want of secrecy" to which the big man agreed. "Then I will go alone," the king said, and when his Guard Captian tried to protest once more, Randor had whirled on him and raised his voice, "Lest we forget, it was I sir who led the armies that routed and defeated the New Horde of the traitor Keldor! It was I who led the charge into the Hall Of Elders to find the fiend and capture him, and lastly it was I who sealed his fate and assured that never again would Duke Keldor use his power and influence to upset the balance of peace on Eternia. I am called Randor the Renowned, Captain, lest you forget it!"

The Captain was abased, "I never forget who you are, my King," he said, "all men know that you are the greatest among us in skill, yet I still must do my job as your Guard Captain."

The King had softened and put his hand on his friends shoulder, "And a good Captain you are friend, all men know that, but I must not dishonor our Vulnarian guest. The ties of honor and fealty that bind us demand it! I will go alone."

So said the King and so it was. Together King Randor and the Vulnarian warrior walked out of the Castle Keep, all the way to the edge of Eternos. When the Guard Captain pleaded with the Queen Marlena to send stealthy men to follow and ensure the Kings safety she became angry, and shewed to them the fiery temper of her home world for which she was renowned: "You will NOT sir, dishonor your King by breaking his word and committing TREASON at that! IF you so much as send ONE man sir, nay, if this thought even stays in your head I will take my blade and relieve you of your head myself, sir! Or any mans head who would dishonor my husband their king!"

So it was that the King went alone with the Vulnarian savage to the walled gate of Eternos, where they passed the Watchers and entered into the forest beyond. Waiting for them at the edge of that forest was a small stunted figure wearing a cloak and hood, and when he saw Randor he removed that hood to reveal a face that was hidden under strips of dirty cloth, with only holes cut out for his eyes, which even in the bright of the day glowed with amber light, and his ears, which were small and pointed like an elfs. He leaned heavily on a wooden staff, and when he spoke there was aristocratic education in his voice.

"I am Orko," he said, "Mouthpiece of Mighty Teela."

"Great Goddess above!" Randor was amazed, "The Chief Shaman Priest of the Vulnar Valley himself! It is an honor to meet you, Sir!"

Orko nodded, "You call upon the name of the Goddess, Randor King, yet you pledge your faith to the god known as the Master Of The Universe and his Celestial Church. Strange, is it not?"

Before Randor had time to respond, the small creature waved his hand, "It is not a thing to be discussed, here, yet. We must be elsewhere, away from prying ears. You must come with us now to the Vulnar Valley, there are issues at hand that must not wait Randor King, will you go?"

To Randors knowledge, no living Eternian who was not of Vulnarian birth had ever laid eyes upon the Valley of the Faithful, as it was known. It was a great honor to be asked, yet in his head he calculated the amount of time it would take to journey hence and return and knew that in a practical sense it was an impossibility.

"You have honored me, Priest," Randor responded carefully, "Both as a king and a man, and were I any other than a king I would gratefully go with you, but as a king I cannot be away from my people for such a length of time, I must refuse."

"Were you not a KING, Randor, " the small concealed man said, "I would not be here. But do not worry over time, know you not who I am? Mighty Teela does not intend us to travel by foot..."

With that there was a sudden darkening in the sky and a great wind that made the trees bend and bow. Randor looked up to see the third, and greatest wonderment thus far of that day. A great falcon, large as an Eternian airship had appeared as if from the aether and was flapping its great wings, hovering above them. It was an awe inspiring sight, and Randor noticed that a amber fire, like the one in the Priests eyes only much brighter, burned in the eyes of the falcon. This was no Eternian creature of nature, this was magic.

"By the Goddess, the great hunter Zoar," Randor whispered. He had heard tales all of his life of course, of the mighty Falcon was part of the Trinity of Mighty Teela, the warrior Goddess who was Human, Falcon, and Cobra. He was guilty, as was most Eternians, of believing the stories to be only fairy tales told to stoke the imagination of children. But there could be no denying the great predator bird in the sky.

Randor then looked down to see both the Vulnarian warrior and the priest prostrate on the ground before the falcon. Randor bowed to the bird out of the codes of honor, but his pride and his duty to his people would not allow him to fall in the dirt before any creature...even a god or goddess! The Eternian King would not submit! The Falcon seemed to notice this, and a great disembodied female voice boomed from the very air itself: "It is your bravery and strength that may save Eternia yet, Randor the Renowned! Yet you must know MY strength as well!"

With that said the great bird screeched as such that had never been heard in that lands, so great was the cry that all around for leagues put their hands to their ears, but for the three tiny figures beneath the great bird the cry was overpowering, Randor felt the sonic waves of the cry and felt himself blacking out in response, blood was running down his neck from his ears, and as he reached for his blaster the birds wings beat once again and the force knocked him to the ground. He fought for what seemed like a great while against unconsciousness, and during the struggle he felt a mud being shoved into his ears. Finally consciousness returned fully to him and he moved to his feet, where he stood wobbily. The great bird was still above him and he realized that the whole event must have only been a few moments.

He reached to his ears and felt the mud packed deep within. The Vulnarian priest Orko spoke to him; "It is a healing mud Randor King, without it the Falcons screech would take your hearing, with it there is no damage. It is a gift of the Goddess."

The female voice spoke again, softer this time. "You have felt but a small portion of my strength King. It was necessary. You must come with us, but it must be of your own free will. You can be back on your throne by nightfall... what say you?"

Randor thought: "I have felt your strength Goddess, and truly it is formidable. But I am a man, and I am a king. I would resist any who would force me to go against my own will, be they men, demons, gods, or goddesses. I would resist even until death, and after my death those that come after me would resist. All Eternians would resist until the last one of us is dead, and then what would the gods and goddesses rule? A barren land? A hollow victory..."

The falcon seemed to nod, "Then I have chosen well. This answer pleases me Randor King. Please, there are now events in motion which could spell doom for Eternia, and the future which you wish to create. There is a great darkness come into our world, though from where I cannot say, but it is clear to me that you have a role in fighting it. Will you come with me?"

Randor nodded. "I will." With that said the great falcon descended and wrapped one enormous talon gently around the trio and at a speed Randor would not have dreamed possible ascended into the sky...

Chapter 3 available now!


	3. The Green God Chapter 3

The Green God Part 3

Our captain stared at the wood elf spokes man. "Let's dispense with the bullshit," he said. "My men and I are not in the mood for it today. There is no _green god_. This is just a bullshit story you are feeding us to make us leave. Well sorry, but I don't believe it." He bent down and came nose to nose with the wood elf. "There may be a _Master Of The Universe_, my king says that there is and I take the word of my king. I DO NOT," he said raising his voice, "I do not take the word of a shitty little wood elf who tries to convince me that a make believe monster killed a squadron of armored men. That's what I do not do."

I looked around at the rest of the soldiers who appeared very uncomfortable. The captain was clearly trying to provoke the wood elves to attack, though I could not figure out why. We had superior firepower and training, and probably could cut them down easily, but why? Such wanton slaughter would be unbecoming of Men Of Randor. Then, I saw the former soldier who had warned us about this green god and was now a restrained prisoner, he looked absolutely terrified.

The wood elves shaman motioned angrily to our captain and pointed at him with his staff. The spokesman turned to interpret.

"Shalu-Ku says that you have dishonored us, but more importantly you have dishonored Kreann Ot' N' Norosh. For that you should die, but Kreann Ot' N' Norosh is merciful. Go now and do not come back to these woods, and you leave with your lives."

The captain whirled to face us. "You all hear the threats from this savage?" he asked. "They are preventing us from carrying out our duty, they are dishonoring our king, and they are threatening our lives!" He turned back to glare at the wood elves, "You creatures are in the legal fiefdom of Randor First of His Name King of All Eternia, and you are interfering with the work of King Randors appointed representatives. You exists in these woods freely and without tax only upon your Kings suffrage, and you dare to threaten a representative of that King? " The captain drew his plasma blaster, "I will melt you where you stand..."

It was too much, I had to interfere. I had no idea why these things were happening, how our captain could allow himself to get so out of control. I actually grabbed my captains arm, preventing him from firing, "Sir, perhaps we should talk..."

"Stand down, lieutenant!" The captain raged, "Touch me again and I will have your rank removed and charge you with treason! I will..."

But the captain never finished his sentence. Suddenly green vines grew from the ground itself and wrapped around the captains legs, then his arms. All of us saw, right before vines reached out and entwined our own legs, we saw a _green face_ in the suddenly unaccountably misty air itself, an enormous face that appraised us with black eyes shrouded within a visage that appeared made entirely of green moss and foliage. It was like the face of the forest itself.

The wood elves had all fallen on their knees in worship of the face, minus the shaman who was chanting what sounded like praises in the wood elves language. The captain howled in rage and frustration, and fired a blast of plasma heat towards the face, which dispersed easily to let the plasma blast pass through it, and then reassembled . A voice, earthy and damp and gravelly, a voice that reminded me of mushrooms and rotting logs and moss, came from the face: "You have threatened my children with violence, and you tried to do violence to me, I cannot allow this."

A vine reached out and plucked the captains plasma blaster from it, the captain struggled as he watched the vine lift the pistol aloft and then point the barrel directly at him, but he was held firm in their grip and could not break free. I tried to free my hand and reach my own blaster, I could not. Everyone of us was held firm in the grips of the vines, and the enormous green face spoke again directly to our Captain. " I am Kreann Ot'N' Norosh, and I withdraw my mercy from you, It is fitting that you die by your own weapon."

The vine pulled the trigger three quick times on the plasma blaster, and our captain was immediately immolated. There was a brief scream, and we watched as the spreading plasma heat melted his body like lava. The smell of burning flesh and viscera hung in the air, and finally all that was left of our captain was glowing ashes that blew apart. I was now in command of our squad.

The green face that called itself Kreann'Ot" 'N' Norosh seemed to know this, and it looked to me. I knew that I had to be bold, so I faced it and spoke first, "We are in your chains Kreann'Ot''N' Norosh, but we are not yours to command, we are men of Eternia!"

The face seemed to sniff the air and scoff at what surely sounded like an empty boast. "Is it Men of Eternia that seek out my children and slaughter them?"It asked, "Is it _Men of Eternia _that violate their women, and cut the throats of their young? Is it Men of Eternia that chop down my trees where they build their homes? Set fires in my forest? Pour poisons in my waters? Are those _Men Of Eternia_?"

I had no knowledge of the exact events that he was referring too, but doubtless the briganders that he had slaughtered were guilty of all those things. It was common knowledge that there was much prejudice against wood elves from the human inhabitants of Eternia. No doubt these terrible things had been done to them, but not by soldiers of Randor. "Those men you dispensed justice too were criminals Green One, we were here to track them down and bring them to face justice in Eternos. They were responsible for much death and wrongdoing, and they do not represent any kind and decent man of Eternia, and they do not represent King Randor!"

The Green One seemed to consider this, "Yet, the words of your own captain betrayed you all."

I had to speak fast, and cautiously. The lives of the men depended on it . "Our captain acted in a way not befitting a man of Randors military training, nor a decent man of Eternia ." I said. "I do not know why he acted this way." I thought quickly, there must be a way out of this to save the men. "Take me as prisoner if you would Kreann'Ot'N'Norosh, but let my men go. They were here simply on orders, to capture the briganders. They mean no harm to you or your people, and no harm will come to anyone from them. They wish now only to return to Eternos. I give you my word that if you take me and let them go, that is all they will do."

The Green One seemed to consider this. "Your word? Then I should take your word at its face value? And how is it I know that these men will follow your word. And why should I not believe that after arriving to their city, they will return here with many more soldiers and air machines to kill my children?"

I had no answer for this. "All you have is my word." I admitted. "All I can give you is the sincerity of a man of Randor."

I felt the black orb eyes of the face grow larger and peer into me, as if the Green One was searching every fiber of my being and spirit, accusing, judging, determining what kind of man I was. He was drawing lifeforce from me and I felt it, it weakened me, Finally some sort of decision was made, and I felt the lifeforce returned to me, along with...something else. I felt stronger than before, and lighter. It was at this moment that I stopped fearing that this being was going to kill us.

"I will accept your proposal," the Green One said, "You will come with me, and your men are free to leave."

I nodded, and ordered the men to return to Eternos at once. My third in command started to speak, but I interrupted him. "No!" I said, "I am your captain now and you WILL obey on this. You will go back to Eternos, you Davos will report personally to the King and tell him what has transpired here. You will also tell the King that I am doing this of my own free will, and represent him to Kreann "Ot''N'Norosh in the hopes of establishing diplomacy between the Evergreen Forest and the Crown. I ask that no further men be sent here and I will return on my own in due time. Understood?"

Davis nodded. There was nothing he could do but agree to my terms. The vines released my men and they stood massaging muscles that had cramped in the Green Ones tight grip, then silently began the trek back to Eternos. When they had all disappeared into the thick foliage of the forest, the wood elves again came to their feet, and their shaman, the one called Shalu-Ku came and stood in front of me. He reached out and began tying a blindfold around my eyes. "You are to come to the Temple," he said with a rusty command of the common tongue. "You must not see the way." I consented to this and bowed my head to make it easier for him, this represented a priceless opportunity for the kingdom of Randor. This Kreann'Ot''N'Norosh" was clearly a powerful being, clearly the country people had been correct to call him _The Green God_. If I could establish a beneficial relationship with him, it would go far in proliferating Randors Creed.

I was blindfolded and we began the march to the Green Ones Temple. We marched the whole of the day, deeper and deeper into the Evergreen Forest, and finally when the moon was high in the sky, we stopped, and the blindfold was removed from my eyes. We were very deep into the forest, leagues and leagues from any road, the trees here were enormous, and reached into the sky farther than the naked eye could see.

I waited for my eyes to adjust to the darkness and looked around, but I saw no structure of any kind that could serve as a Temple. Then the lift descended.

It was a wooden cart, supported by ropes and pulleys, and it creaked as it descended from high above. We waited until it came to the crowd, which was a rather significant wait, but the wood elves were silent as stone the whole time.

When the cart stopped we boarded, and the ropes creaked as the pulleys pulled, and we began our ascent, to the Temple that must have been in the tops of the highest trees in Eternia.

To be continued.


	4. The Green God Part 4

King Randor was wondering when they were going to get to the Vulnar Valley when the giant falcon Zoar clutching them dived. The heavy cloud mist they had been flying in parted, and he gasped when he saw a large grey rock castle jutting out of the top of a mountain below them, its front a massive carven skull.

"This is not the Vulnar Valley!" Randor shouted to the Vulnarian priest.

"Indeed it is not, King," Orko answered, not bothering to hide the awe in his voice. "There was a change of plans. Welcome to Castle Greyskull, King Randor."

Randor gasped. Like most Eternians, he knew the stories about castle Greyskull by heart, yet, also like most Eternians...

"You did not believe it existed," the Shaman Priest Orko said, reading his mind.

"No," Randor acknowledged shamefully. "I thought it was just a tale, a part of history that had long since vanished."

"Nothing vanishes," the priest responded, "all returns, in one form , or another. All follows its path back home."

The great falcon gently landed on the hard rock in the front of the castle. Randor marveled at the scale of the massive castle. It dwarfed even his Keep in Eternos. The dome of the great skull must have reached a thousand feet into the sky, and the clouds that surrounded it broke, as if something was commanding and directing them, so that Randor could see the height and size of the castle. The two great towers on either side of the skull were even taller, and now the clouds moved in to camouflage them, so that Randor could not see if they were being watched.

"You believed this castle to be a myth, Randor King, yet you accept the story of the Master of The Universe?" The Vulnarian priest was peering at Randor with his unsettling glowing eyes, and Randor felt violence in the question.

" I joined the Celestial Church for political necessity, Priest," he answered carefully, "as you should well know. It is the religion of my father, and most of the nobles in Eternos. It was necessary to gain their support for my Creed."

"A king may do as he wishes without pandering," the Priest replied, acid in his voice.

"And a wise king avoids unnecessary bloodshed," Randor answered quickly, "a wise king believes in the art of diplomacy."

"Hmm, yet I wonder, saw you any evidence this Master of The Universe exist?"

"No," Randor answered truthfully, "none."

Orko levitated until he was face to face with Randor, and his strange, coal bright eyes were mere inches from Randors own, "before you went into battle to save Eternos, Randor King, to whom did you ask to guide your sword arm?"

"Great Teela," Randor admitted, and suddenly the monstrous mouth of the skull castle opened with a loud creak, as if gears that had not turned for centuries were shaking off their rust and rotating. A drawbridge crashed heavily to the ground from the jaw of the skull, and a tall figure was moving towards them .

Orko the shaman immediately fell to the ground in worship. Randor stood his ground, to behold a tall , , utterly terrifying otherworldly figure as she advanced towards them. From a distance, it looked as if it walked like a woman, but had the head of a great bird. He was frozen, completely focused on Her, and then he realized with a panic that the great falcon was gone, and he did not know when the large predator had flown away. He looked frantically to the skies and could not see it, this troubled him greatly, and it was in an absolute panic that he saw the Woman creature unfurl wings, flap them, and float up into the air towards the worshipping Orko and the alarmed Randor.

The woman was unlike anything he had ever seen, and it was clear she was a Goddess. It was even more clear that the old stories had been true, for before him was Teela-Boa, one half of the Divided Goddess: the Falcon. She was tall, and wore a great helm that resembled the head of a giant falcon, and inside the predator birds open beak was her face, pale, with eyes like that of the bird, yellow ringed around deep, black orbs for pupils. White, brown, and golden feathers of the great bird covered her shoulders and torso, which hinted at feminine curves under the feathers, but her long legs were bare and seductive, yet magically tattooed with many strange glyphs which seemed to absorb the Eternian sun and glow with it. She carried a golden staff that was also fashioned after a falcon, and while sharp on the end was clearly intended for magic and thaumaturgy as it hummed with power. She seemed a synthesis of woman and bird.

Teela-Boa hovered in the air above them briefly, before coming to land in front of them. Orko remained with his face cast down, daring not to look at his Goddess, but Randor, although he trembled, dared. If this was to be his moment of death for joining the Celestial Church, then he would meet it head on, and not whimpering and begging for his life!

"Randor, King of Eternia, you have rejected me!" She thundered in anger, and the voice that spoke was the same voice that had issued previously form the beak of the falcon, Zoar.

"I did what was necessary to secure the aid of the nobles, Goddess," he answered, "as I told your priest. I cannot hold Eternia united without their support."

"Nobles!" Teela-Boa spat out the word, and her priest Orko gasped , surely this meant death was coming to the heretical king!

"Goddess," Randor said trying to reason, "You are Teela-Boa, the Falcon, who the old stories tell is a Goddess of reason and philosophy, which is why you sit in Castle Greyskull, guarding it's secrets. Your Sister..."

"Is not here!" Teela-Boa, interrupted, "and the old stories are not always right, Randor King! Think you, which should one be more afraid of? The striking serpent, or the falcon who attacks from above?"

Then, Randor understood his peril. The people , especially the country people, had long embraced he Divided Goddess, and Teela-Boa in particular, as their Great Protector, as a compassionate goddess who keeps them safe, but now he knew that they were wrong. She WAS a predator, with all that that meant, and like all the other old gods she had defeated to assume her place, the great dragons, she was jealous.

"I will not meet my death without battle," he said calmly.

To be Continued!


End file.
